Folding bed



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FOLDING- BED.

No. 337,158. A Patented Mar. 2, 1886.

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Patented Mar. 2, 1335l J. C. HORN 8v C, F. HOPE. FOLDING BED.

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FOLDING BBD.

No. 337,158. Patented Mar. 2, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. HORN AND CARL F. HOFF, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOLDING BED.

PEC'IPICAIION forming part of Letters Patent No. 337,158, dated March 2,1886.

Application filed October l5, 1884. Serial No. 145,551. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, JOHN C. HORN and CARL F. HOPE, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Beds; and We do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to that class of folding beds in which the side rails are centrally divided and hinged, so as to rise in the middle, and in which the head and foot boards or parts of the bed-frame are drawn apart or pushed toward each other in the respective operations of opening and closing the bed.

The invention also relates to beds of this class provided with longitudinal elastic, coiled or woven wire fabric, which serves as the immediate support of the bedding and burden when the bed is in use.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide certain improved features of construction in the bed-frame, and also to provide improved ineans for giving to the woven-wire fabric the desired tension when the bed is eX- tended, and to relieve said tension when the bed is folded.

To these and other ends that will further appear the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved folding bed when closed. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the folded bed, taken in the plane of the indirect line x .fr of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the bed-frame, taken parallel with the side rail and in the line x x of Fig. 2, the full lines representing the bed partially closed, and the dotted lines representing the bed fully extended. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in vertical transverse section through the axis or pivots upon which the side rails turn in the head-frame, looking toward the head-board, the frame upon which the fabric is fastened being in its folded position. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side view presented by the removal of the side board of the head-frame next the eye, and showing a porotally attached tothe head and foot frames of 6 0 the bed respectively.

C and C are respectively head and foot cross` rails, to which the woven-wire fabric D is attached, said fabric being composed of longitudinally -arranged, coiled, and interwoven Wires secured to and supported wholly by said head and foot rails.

C2 are cross-rails permanently secured to the several parts B and B of the side rails.

The head-frame A is principally composed of upright side pieces, a, and a partial or complete back a, said back board, a, if only partial, being located at the upper portion of the head-frame to afford a suitable finish or headboard, exposed to view when the bed is eX- tended. The foot-frame A is composed of side uprights, a2, a cross or foot board proper, a3, together with a top piece, a4. Both the head and foot frames A and A are also commonly and preferably provided with bottom pieces, a5, and they are also preferably provided with base-bars a, which extend past each other as the bed is closed, in a manner indicated clearly in Figs. l and 3, and which constitute the bases of the several relatively-movable head and foot frames of the bed, being furnished with suitable castors or rollers, al, for the purpose of facilitating the movement of the said parts or the entire bed upon the floor.

The parts B and B of the several side rails are pivoted at b b to the head and foot frames A and A, respectively, and are hinged to each other by means of exterior connecting-pieces,

B2, which are pivoted to the adjacent ends of the side-rail sections by parallel bolts b b', as clearly shown in Figs. l, 2, and 3. The lower corners of said side rails at their meeting ends are rounded concentrically with the pivotal points b, and are preferably provided with intermesliing teeth b2, which ser've to retain said side rails in their proper relation with each other, and with the connecting-pieces Bz B2 when said side rails are either folded or eX- tended. As herein shown, lthe connecting- IDO pieces B2 are extended downwardly to form legs for the cent-ral support of the side rails from the floor, as indicated in Fig. 3, so that injurious strain upon the joint in said rails is obviated. Theretis nothing new in the geueral feat nres of the structure so far described.

As a novel feature 'ot' construction inthe exterior frame ofthe bed, a cover, A", is hinged at its rear edge to the top of the head-frame A, and to or near the front edge of said cover is hinged a depending structure, A*,composed of upright side pieces, as, and a front piece, a9, a bottom piece, um, being also usually and preferably present and secured tothe lower ends of said parts as and a, as shown in Fig. 3. The parts A3 and A4 are constructed to form both an upward extension of the headboard or headframe of the bed when the latter is extended and a cover and suitable upper front finish for the structure when the bed is closed. The position of said hinged portion Aa and A4 when raised to extend the headboard is shown in Fig. 3, and theirposition in furnishing a cover and front for the closed bed is shown in Fig. l. From these figures it will be seen that the cover A3 is made to extend across the upper end of the head-frame, and also across the'upper or joined ends of the side-rail sections, while the hinged depending portion A4 furnishes a continuation of the vertical side and cross pieces ot' the foot-frame A', giving a complete inclosure of the bed proper and a symmetrical outline to the eX- terna] bed-frame when closed. For the purpose ofgiving a neater appearance to the head-frame A when the bed is extended, the side boards, a, of said head-frame are cut away in their front edges to leave projections at c, which projections form a sort of brackets beneath the hinged part A3. The connecting side pieces, I3'l are preferably construct-ed to rise into contact with the front edges of the brackets a, and are extended on their opposite sides, or at b3, Fig. l, to an extent corresponding with the projection of the sides a at au. Vhen the bed is closed, therefore, it shows at each side a symmetrical depression or panel in which the side-rail sections B and B are seen and 'in which the side pieces, B, depend exterior to said side rail. To give the closed bed the ap pearance of a bureau, a short, permanent, and ornamental back piece, A5,is applied, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

In the construction of the parts concerned in the support and tension of the fabric D it will be observed that the upper or head crossrail, C, is movably supported in longitudinal slots b* in the ends of the side rails, and that the said head-rail (l is composed of two parts secured to each other, one above the other, with the end of the fabric between them, so that the draft on said fabric, when subjected to tension, will be central of said rail, and therefore not calculated to cause the rail to turn or bind in the said slots b4. of forcing said end rail outward in the slots b4, and thereby giving the desired tension to the For the purposev fabric D when the bed is extended, curvedy metal wedges E E are firmly secured to the vertical side piece, a, of the head-frame, having their curved edges e, which are most remote from the adjacent pivots b of the side rails, eccentric with said pivot, the upperend of said eccentric edge e being more remote from the pivotal point than the lower end. For the purpose of engaging the end bed-rail, C, with said eccentric wedges E', the said end rail, C, is provided with rollers C3, exterior to the side rail, which rollers, as the side rais of the bed are centrally depressed, at first pass freely backward beneath thelowerends ofthe wedges E, but as they rise behind said wedges are carried outward or backward thereby as the depression of the side rail continues. the intention being to give to said wedges such a degree of eccentricity as will carry the said rail C outward far enough to produce a desired tension of the fabric D. When the bed is folded, the said fabric D draws the end rail, C, inward or upward against the ends of the slots b, which are so located as to hold said end rail in position to allow the rollers C3 to pass freely into engagement with the wedges E, as described.

In orderto properly support the strain upon the tension-rollers C3, and to relieve the pivots b of said strain, additional stationary rollers, B3, are provided on pins bi, fixed to the side rails at or near the inner ends of the slots b, said rollers B3 being intended to engage with the opposite edges, e', of the wedges E, the said edges c being curved concentrically with the pivots b.

The opposite or foot end rail, C', to which the fabric is attached, may be permanent, as ordinarily constructed, or movable, like the cross rail C, already described. It may also consist of a single piece, as commonly made, or of two parallel parts, as herein shown, one of which parts is fixed and the other movable, for the purpose of giving permanent variation in the tension ofthe fabric.

Referring to Fig. 2, c is a fixed crossrail rigidly connecting the opposite sections, B', of the side rails, and cl is a movable cross-rail to which the fabric is attached. In this construction the cross-rail c2 should beindepend ent of the side rails, and is adjustable with reference to the fixed rail c by means of adjusting-bolts c3. The movable end rail, c, is shown as being made intwo parts, between which the fabric D is embraced, as in the case ofthe head-rail C,` already described, though this duplex form of said rail c`l is not essential.

For the purpose of properly upholding the central portion of theiabric and bedding when the bed is closed, a transverse supporting structure, F, Fig. 2, is provided, which consists of two centrally-crossed bars, F F', connected at their point of intersection by a movable pivot, f. The lower ends of said crossed bars are supported by pivotal attachment with blocks F", resting on brackets F3.

IOO

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pieces for the side-rail sections B and B', corresponding in function with and operating to re-enforce the exterior connecting-piece, B2,

already described. Upon the blocks F2 are placed vertical spiral springs f2, which uphold the higher ends of the crossed bars F through interposed blocks f3, to which both the springs and the ends of the bars are preferably attached. Y

Vhen the bed is extended7 the fabric, if under proper tension and in a practically horizontal plane, preferably does not rest on the crossed bars F; but when the bed is being folded said bars rise beneath the central portion of the fabric and lift the same, together with the bed-clothing resting thereon. Then the bed is extended and in use, the central portion of the crossed bars is not within the reach of the fabric, and does not therefore interfere with its depression beneath the weight of the occupant. The ends of said bars are also generally clear of the fabric; but if the weight bear the edge of the fabric into contact with the said ends of the crossed bars F, the springs 3o f2 allow the fabric to sink under such weight without objectionably affecting the action of the bed. The crossed bars F are slotted at their pivotal poi nts f and f to receive the pivot-pins, as clearly seen in Fig. 2, so that the necessary longitudinal motion of the bars at these points may take place when the ends of the bars are depressed.

It will be observed that the connectingpiece B2 and the upper ends of the pendants F2 both crossing the joint in the side rails, and being arranged on opposite sides of said side rails and held in place by the pivots b', co-operate to strengthen said joints of the side rails materially, and to prevent the lateral deflection of said side rails by the tension of the fabric or by the weight resting thereon when the bed is extended.

'lo facilitate the closing of the bed, external handles are provided at the pivoted junction ofthe side-rail sections, said handles being, in the present instance, constructed to cross the junction of the side rails, and also being held by the pivots b. The handle so constructed is indicated in full lilies at G, Figs. l and 2, and in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Obviously, the handle located at the joint of the side rails enables the power to be applied for bending or liftingsaid siderails with the greatest possible advantage, and a horizontal handle of metal or other material adapted to fit the hand is clearly more convenient and favorable tothe effective use of force than is the application of the hand to the lower edge of the side rail at one side of the joint7 as has heretofore been necessary.

XVe do not wish to be restricted to the particular means above described for producing tension of the fabric D in opening or extending the bed. We therefore show in Fig. 6 one of many other devices that may be employed for this purpose. In said Fig. 6 castings H are secured to the side pieces of the head-frame, and provided with curved grooves 7L, arranged eccentrically with the pins b, by which the side rails are pivoted to the said head-frame. Extending across the head-frame, and having its ends placed in the opposite grooves h of the castings II, is a stiftl metal rod, I, preferably provided with rollers i on its said ends within said grooves. The movable end rail, C, has stout metal hooks h on its outer margin, which, when the side rails are being centrally lowered, rise beneath the rod I and carry the latter upward in the grooves h. In this upward movement of the rod the said end rail is of course drawn outward with the desired effect of imparting tension to the fabric secured to said end rail.

Ve claim 'as our invention l. The combination, with the head and foot frames, jointed side rails provided with slots, and elastic fabric appropriately held at one end, of a movable end railsupported in the slots of the said side rails and having the opposite end of the fabric secured thereto, projections on the ends of said movable end rail, and devices applied to the adjacent head or foot frame, constructed to engage said projections and to carry the end rail outward as the side rails descend, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the jointed side rails and head or foot frame having the side rails pivoted thereto, of eccentrics E, fixed to said head or foot frame, an end rail supported movably in said side rails and adapted to engage the eccentrics, an elastic fabric, D, secured to said end rail, and suitable means for holding the opposite end of the fabric, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the head and foot frames, jointed side rails pivoted to the head and foot frames, and a movable end rail for the elastic fabric, of a wedge-shaped plate, E, provided with curved faces e and e', of which the latter is practically concentric with the pivot of the side rails, and rollers attached to the movable end rail and adjacent parts of the side rails in position to rise on the opposite sides of the plate E, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the centrally-divided side rails pivoted to head and foot frames, generally, as set forth, of exterior handles at or near thejoint of the side rails, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination, with the centrally-divided and hinged side rails and connectingpieces joining the sections of said side rails, of a transverse fabric-support sustained by the said connecting-pieces, substantially as de` scribed.

6. The combination7 with the centrally-divided and hinged side rails pivoted to head and roo- foot fr'ames,.ge1iera1i y7 as set forth, of interior per end to or near the'front edge of the covex` Y depending connecting-pieces, F4, pivoted to and adapted to meet the foot-frnme when lowthe sections ofthe side rails, crossed bars F, ered, substantially as and for` the purpose Set i5 supported at their lower endsby the parts Fi, forth. 5 and springs f2, inserted between the ends of In testimony that we claim the foregoing as the crossed bars, substantially as described. Ouijoint invention We affix our signatures in 7. The combination, with the head and foot presence of two Witnesses. frames, of which the latter is lower than the JOHN O. HORN. former, and with centrally-divided and hinged CARL F. HOPF. To side rails pivoted to said head and foot frames, Witnesses:

of@ cover, A3, hinged at its rear edge to the M. E. DAYTON,

head-frame, and a part, A4, hinged at its up- OLIVER E. PAGIN. 

